Button holding attachment for a sewing machine



July 10, 1956 I T. E. NESSLE 2,753,822

BUTTON HOLDING ATTACHMENT FOR A SEWING MACHINE Filed Oct. 8, 1954 INVENTOR United States Patent BUTTON HOLDING ATTACHMENT FOR A SEWING MACHINE Thomas E. N essle, Kingston, N. Y.; Irma D. Nessie, executlix of said Thomas E. Nessie, deceased Application October 8, 1954, Serial No. 461,152

2 Claims. (Cl. 112-114) This invention relates to sewing 1 machine attachments, and more particularly to an improved button holding attachment for a buttonsewing machine.

A main object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved button holding attachment for a buttonsewing machine, said attachment being simple in construction, being easy to mount on a machine, and being self-adjusting, in accordance with the different sizes of buttons to be sewed. v

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved button holding attachment for a button-sewing machine, said attachment being easy to install on the machine, being durable in construction, being provided with means for securely gripping the shank of a button while holding the button in an accurately centered position enabling the needle of the machine to pass through the hole of the shank of the button, the attachment being self-adjusting and functioning to keep the button accurately centered regardless of its size or the size of its shank, and being adaptable for use with various types of buttons, including buttons having wire loop shanks, buttons of the molded plastic type, buttons of the clothcovered type, and other commonly used types of buttons.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description and claims, and from the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of an improved button-holding attachment according to the present invention.

Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the attachment shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a vertical cross sectional view taken on the line 33 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary vertical cross sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a horizontal cross sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 2.

Figure 6 is a horizontal cross sectional view taken on the line 66 of Figure 2.

Referring to the drawings, the improved button-holding attachment is designated generally at 11 and comprises a bracket portion 12 which is formed with the vertical, laterally projecting lug 13 having the spaced horizontal arms 14, 14 defining a slot 15 adapted to be engaged by a suitable clamping screw threaded into a portion of the sewing machine adjacent the needle thereof. The bracket member 12 is formed with the upstanding arm portion 16 extending substantially perpendicular to the plane of the parallel elements 14, 14. Designated at 17 and 18 are respective jaw members which are pivoted at their intermediate portions to the arm 12, as by the shouldered pivot bolts 19 and 20. As is clearly shown in Figure 2, the jaw members 17 and 18 have the inwardly projecting, coplanar gear members 21 and 22 formed with the intermeshing gear teeth 23 and 24, whereby the intermediate portions of the jaw members 17 and 18 are gearingly coupled together.

The arm 16 of bracket 12 is formed with a flange 2,753,822 Patented July 10, 1956 element-25 which extends over the gear members 21 and 22 and through which is threaded an adjustable stop screw 27 which is engageable with the ends of the top edge portions of the members 21 and 22, as shown in Figure 2, to limit upward rotation of the members 21 and 22, and thus to limit inward rotation of the depending lower jaw portions 28 and 29 shown in Figure 2. Designated at 30 is a coiled spring which extends through a bore in the flange 25 and which engages the respective top portions 32 and 33 of the jaw members 17 and 18, biasing the lower portions 28 and 29 of said'jaw members towards each other.

The lower ends of the depending elements 28-and 29 of the jaw members are laterally offset with-respect to the pivoted portions of said jaw members and-are formed with the respective opposing arcuate gripping elements 34 and 35 adapted to supportingly engage the shank portion of a button to hold the thread-receiving aperture of said shank portion in alignment with the needle of the sewing-machine.

Thus, the member 13 of the attachment may besecured to the foot member or other suitable portion of the sewing machine adjacent the needle thereof by engaging the clamping screwusually carried on said foot member through the notch 15, the attachment beingadjusted so that the arcuate gripping elements 34 and-35 are centered with respect to the needle of the machine.

With the attachment thus mounted on the machine, it will be readily apparent that when the shank of a button is engaged between the gripping elements 34 and 35, said shank will be held in centered position with respect to the needle of the machine, regardless of the size of the shank, since the gripping elements 34 and 35 may be moved inwardly and outwardly in accordance with the size of the shank to be gripped, and will be retained in centered relation with respect to the needle axis because of the gearing cooperation between the jaw members 17 and 18 provided by the intermeshing gear teeth 23 and 24. Thus, the attachment may be employed to support buttons having shanks of widely differing sizes and shapes, and will be self-adjusting to maintain the thread-receiving apertures of the buttons in alignment with the needle of the machine, regardless of the sizes of the shanks of the buttons.

It will be understood that although the attachment is shown in Figure 1 with the elements 14, 14 extending horizontally, when the attachment is mounted, said elements may extend vertically or in other directions, depending upon the direction in which the needle of the machine extends.

Because of the self-adjusting nature of the attachment, many different buttons may be supported by the attachment, without requiring any adjustments thereof, and no change in adjustment of the attachment is required when different size buttons are placed in the attachment.

While a specific embodiment of an improved buttonholding attachment for a button-sewing machine has been disclosed in the foregoing description, it will be understood that various modifications within the spirit of the invention may occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, it is intended that no limitations be placed on the invention except as defined by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A button holding attachment for a button-sewing machine comprising a bracket adapted to be secured to the sewing machine adjacent the needle thereof, an upstanding portion on said bracket, a pair of jaw members pivoted at their intermediate portions to said upstanding portion, whereby each jaw member has a first end located at one side of said upstanding bracket portion and a second end located at the opposite side of said perpendicularly to the planes of rotation of said jaw members and overlying said interengaging gear teeth, and an adjustable stop screw threadedly engaged through said flange element and being engageable with the edges of said intermediate portions adjacent said gear teeth to limit outward rotation of the second ends of said jaw members.

2. A button-holding attachment for a button-sewing machine comprising a bracket adapted to be secured to the sewing machine adjacent the needle thereof, an upstanding portion on said bracket, a pair of jaw members pivoted at their intermediate portions to said upstanding portion of the bracket, whereby each jaw member has a first end located at one side of said upstanding bracket portion and a second end located at the opposite side of said upstanding bracket portion, the first ends of said jaw members being laterally offset with respect to the pivoted portions thereof, respective opposing arcuate gripping elements on said first ends of said jaw members adapted to supportingly engage the shank of a button, interengaging gear teeth on the intermediate portions of said jaw members located substantially midway between the pivotal connections of the jaw members to said upstanding bracket portion and being formed and arranged to substantially equalize pivotal rotation of said jaw members, a flange element on said bracket extending substantially perpendicular to the planes of rotation of said jaw members and overlying said interengaging gear teeth, a coiled spring extending through said flange element between the second ends of said jaw members and bearing on said second ends to bias said second ends apart, and an adjustable stop screw threadedly engaged through said flange element transverse to said coiled spring and being engageable with the edges of said intermediate portions adjacent said gear teeth to limit outward rotation of the second ends of said jaw members.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 766,833 Mack Aug. 9, 1904 820,089 Bouton May 8, 1906 1,366,109 Barron et a1 Ian. 18, 1921 1,529,286 Anderson Mar. 10, 1925 2,096,136 Reece et al. Oct. 19, 1937 2,352,681 Avis July 4, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS 8,802 Great Britain May 10, 1892 

